Team Korea was the heavy favourite going into the second day of the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games short track speed skating competition on Friday but had to settle for one gold medal in three events.
While Minjeong Choi (picture above, on the left) did prevail in the women’s 500m, it was Japan’s Shogo Miyata triumphing in the men’s 500m and France winning the mixed relay.
In the women’s final, Choi comfortably came to the finish line in first place to add more gold to her Lake Placid 2023 collection.
“Along with the gold medal in the 1500 from yesterday, it feels great to win the 500 today,” the winner said.
Despite some hiccups in the qualifications, including a fall and delays due to an accident, Choi was able to regroup and cruise to victory.
“Coming into the finish line, it felt great to know that I was going to win, but I was also thinking of the placements of my teammates,” she added.
One of the most accomplished athletes at these FISU Games, Choi is a three-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion, Four Continents champion and the current world record holder in the 1500m.
She wanted to participate at the University Games in 2021, but due to its cancellation, she found motivation to travel to Lake Placid.
“To be completely honest, I already won medals from Olympic Games, world championships, Four Continents and Asian Games. I wanted to come to the World University Games to win another gold,” she said with a smile.
In the men’s 500, Miyata also came to the finish line looking poised and confident.
“This was my first title in international competition. So, I’m very happy with the results,” he said.
“I thought to myself I should calm myself. I have to finish the end without too much excitement.”
The mixed team relay, however, was filled with drama as three of four countries were disqualified from the A final.
“It feels great because we knew we didn’t do anything wrong and we saw all the other teams celebrate, but we were like we need to wait because we know we did right and others did wrong. Emotion is at its maximum right now,” said Quentin Fercoq of gold-medal winning France.
The French team is quite young but was able to reach its goal of stepping on the podium.
“We are here to win it. It’s a young team. We managed to make it to finals really well and we were on to get a medal because that’s what everyone wants to do, so we were really focused and ready to win,” said Gwendoline Daudet, with teammate Matheo Grall adding he was looking forward to celebrating this accomplishment with a glass of champagne.
Written by Diana Hong, FISU Young Reporter
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